


The Flirty Grad Student

by sevarix



Series: Adrestia University [2]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: College AU, Gen, M/M, Modern AU, bi!sylvain
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-26
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:39:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,255
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28341030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sevarix/pseuds/sevarix
Summary: Sylvain is a grad student at Adrestia University who is always ready to flirt. After hosting yet another party, he begins to realize what he really wants from a relationship.Meanwhile, a group of undergrad friends (from part 1) get an invite to the party.
Relationships: Yuris Leclair | Yuri Leclerc/My Unit | Byleth
Series: Adrestia University [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2072865
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10





	The Flirty Grad Student

**Author's Note:**

> i recommend reading part 1 of the series before reading this! 
> 
> a couple of notes:  
> all characters are their timeskip age  
> the group of undergrads are linhardt, hilda, dorothea, and annette (more about them in part 1)  
> this will be multi chapter 
> 
> anyway, hope you enjoy my take on a modern/college au :)

With a sigh, Ingrid entered the office--if it could even be called that--shared by all the TAs in her department. She usually didn’t mind when others were there, especially since most kept to themselves, but when she walked in that day, Sylvain was the only one there.

“Oh, hey Ingrid,” he said as she entered.

“Hello Sylvain,” she replied curtly. Sometimes it angered her that someone so careless about his studies could also be so talented academically. To think this was the same guy who maintained a high GPA while still planning parties and flirting with everyone. The worst part was that Ingrid had known him since childhood.

“I’m guessing you got my invitation?” he asked with a smirk.

She sighed again. “Yes, I got your invitation. And _yes_ I’ll go. If only to make sure you don’t do anything stupid.”

His smirk remained. “I knew you would.” Then he glanced over to a large stack of papers on one of the tables, his smile fading. “Hey, we don’t have to grade all that, do we? Byleth left it behind, and it’s supposed to be graded by tomorrow.”

“Oh right,” Ingrid said, remembering the text she had received earlier. “He couldn’t come in today. Not feeling well or something. But he said he would send someone to pick it up for him.”

“Well, that’s a relief. I hate grading.”

She scoffed. “Most of the stuff you grade is just a participation grade!”

“Hey, it’s still a lot of work!” Sylvain rebutted.

After rolling her eyes, Ingrid got to work grading papers for her own classes and preparing material for the semester. Sylvain did as well, though he took very frequent, long breaks to look at his phone.

Just when she was almost done for the day, she heard a faint knock on the door. Probably a student coming for office hours.

She and Sylvain both got to their feet, but it was Sylvain who reached the door first. She only hoped he wouldn’t flirt with the poor student.

When he opened the door, however, she began to doubt it was a student who had shown up. He was young, but he didn’t look like the typical Adrestia University student; his clothes looked too nice for one thing. They were not flashy clothes, but definitely fashionable, and combined with his neatly painted nails and eyeshadow, Ingrid thought he might be some kind of fashion student if he was a student at all.

Apparently Sylvain was surprised, too. His eyes widened after he opened the door. “Oh. Who are you?”

“Hey,” the newcomer said. “I’m here to pick up Byleth’s things. This the right place?”

“Yes, I’ll get them for you,” Ingrid replied, collecting all of Byleth’s ungraded papers.

While she did so, Sylvain struck up a conversation. “So, what’s your name? Are you a grad student?”

“You can call me Yuri. And no, never did the grad school thing.”

“I don’t blame you. It kinda sucks, to be honest.”

Yuri laughed. “Going by what Byleth has told me, I can see why you’d think that.”

Ingrid walked over and handed him the stack of papers. “Here you go. Thanks for getting them for him.”

“Sure thing. He should be back in a few days.”

“Are you one of his friends?” Ingrid asked.

Yuri shrugged. “You could say that.”

Sylvain smiled. “Oh, well, if you’re friends with him, you should come to my party. It’s next weekend at my place. I can give you my number if you want more details. Or if you just… want to chat sometime.”

Ingrid resisted the urge to kick him. Could he meet any new person without flirting with them?

Yuri laughed. “That’s okay, I can get it from Byleth. You already sent it to him.”

Sylvain’s smile faded slightly. Ingrid wanted to laugh. It was clear Yuri saw right through him, and she enjoyed watching every moment of it.

“You should really convince him to go,” Sylvain continued. “He’s… never actually come to any of my parties. I keep telling him it’s a good place to meet people, but it’s like he wants to be single forever.”

Yuri smirked. “Well, he is pretty introverted. And not single, by the way.”

Sylvain blinked at him. “Wait… really? Are you joking?”

Yuri chuckled. “Is it that hard to believe?” Then he turned to leave. “Anyway, maybe his boyfriend can convince him to go to your party.” With a smirk, he started walking away. “See you next weekend.”

Sylvain closed the door, then stood in stunned silence, clearly unable to cope with everything he was just told.

Ingrid, however, burst into laughter. It had been a long time that Sylvain had been beaten by his own game, and Ingrid found it hilarious. “Oh my goddess, Sylvain, he saw _right_ through you.” Her laughter continued. “The look on your face!”

“I… can’t believe it,” Sylvain muttered. Then he pulled out his phone and began typing.

Ingrid already knew what was coming. She looked at her own phone in anticipation.

****TA Buddies (let us suffer together)** **

****sylvain**** : DUDE BYLETH

 ** **sylvain**** : yuri is your BOYFRIEND???????

 ** **byleth**** : yes

 ** **sylvain**** : dude why didn't you tell us!!!!!!!

 ** **ingrid**** : maybe he wanted to keep his private life PRIVATE?

 ** **byleth**** : idk never came up i guess

 ** **sylvain**** : seriously bro i am SHOOK

 ** **sylvain**** : like he showed up here to get your stuff and damn

 ** **ingrid**** : sylvain flirted with him

 ** **ingrid**** : to the surprise of no one, of course

 ** **sylvain**** : i mean, can you blame me?? did you SEE him???

 ** **ingrid**** : not everyone feels compelled to flirt with every person they meet…

 ** **sylvain**** : hey i only flirt with the attractive ones!

 ** **byleth**** : honestly i'm surprised he put up with it

 ** **ingrid**** : he didn't and it was fantastic

 ** **ingrid**** : you should have seen the look on sylvain's face

 ** **byleth**** : ok now i can't wait to hear him tell me about it when he gets home

 ** **sylvain**** : wait you legit LIVE TOGETHER?

 ** **byleth**** : yeah?

 ** **sylvain**** : dude how long have you been together????

 ** **byleth**** : idk like 5 years

 ** **ingrid**** : LOL THE LOOK ON HIS FACE RIGHT NOW

 ** **ingrid**** : sylvain is totally jealous right now

 ** **byleth**** : i don't blame him :)

 ** **sylvain**** : i try so hard and i can never find a stable relationship :(

 ** **sylvain**** : so yeah, i'm a little jealous

 ** **sylvain**** : dude you gotta tell me your secrets

 ** **sylvain**** : like how did you even meet him????? i know how shy you are bro

 ** **ingrid**** : and here I thought YOU were the relationship expert, sylvain ;)

 ** **byleth**** : i'm not sure actually. i honestly don't even know how to flirt. we just get along really well

 ** **ingrid**** : maybe you should try the 'no flirting' technique sylvain

 ** **sylvain**** : or maybe more parties

Ingrid looked up from her phone, giving Sylvain an exasperated look. The upcoming party would certainly be an interesting one.

* * *

It was Friday, which meant Hilda could sleep in. In fact, the very reason why she never scheduled classes on Fridays was entirely so she could sleep in.

Despite this, her phone buzzing woke her up just a little before ten in the morning.

****~Adrestia U Besties~** **

****doro**** : ok guys

 ** **doro**** : you know how we were talking about how boring everything's been lately?

 ** **doro**** : well i got an invitation to some rich guy's party for this weekend

 ** **doro**** : he's some grad student

 ** **hilda**** : ooooohhhh this should be fun!

 ** **hilda**** : i've been soooooooooo bored

 ** **annie**** : uh... how do you know it will be safe?

 ** **doro**** : oh i've talked to this guy before

 ** **doro**** : he has this one overbearing friend who keeps him in check

 ** **annie**** : all right i guess

 ** **annie**** : it will be fun to meet new people

 ** **doro**** : lin? you want in also?

 ** **hilda**** : you know, lin hasn't said anything for a few days now

 ** **annie**** : lin are you ok??????

 ** **annie**** : you can always talk to us!!!!!!

 ** **lin**** : yeah i'm all right i guess

 ** **lin**** : just troubled

 ** **doro**** : did something happen?

 ** **hilda**** : DID SOMEONE HURT YOU

 ** **hilda**** : I WILL FIND THEM

 ** **lin**** : no no nothing like that!

 ** **lin**** : just confused

 ** **lin**** : about who i am

 ** **doro**** : ohhh questioning your sexuality again?

 ** **lin**** : yes

 ** **lin**** : i learned what asexual means the other day

 ** **lin**** : i think i might be ace but i don't know

 ** **lin**** : i'm so confused

 ** **doro**** : aw lin, don't be so hard on yourself. you'll figure it out

 ** **lin**** : i guess

 ** **hilda**** : oh yeah one of my friends in high school was ace

 ** **lin**** : but like, I still see people and think they're attractive

 ** **lin**** : but not like in a 'i want to sleep with them' kind of way

 ** **lin**** : and like.... people EXPECT that from relationships???

 ** **lin**** : like i thought it was optional

 ** **hilda**** : yep you sound ace

 ** **doro**** : LOL oh lin you sweet child

 ** **lin**** : i'll never find a long term relationship T_T

 ** **annie**** : lin there is nothing wrong with you!!!

 ** **annie**** : you can still find someone!

 ** **doro**** : yeah, in the meantime, maybe get your mind off it a bit

 ** **doro**** : come to the party

 ** **lin**** : sure i guess

With that, Hilda excitedly prepared her favorite outfit.

* * *

Ingrid had arrived at the party early as usual to make sure Sylvain wasn’t doing anything reckless.

She was not the biggest fan of such events, although she did enjoy chatting with others while making sure Sylvain wasn’t getting himself in trouble.

But the worst thing about being at Sylvain’s place was the Wi-Fi. It was horribly slow, to the point where she had no idea how he could stand it. She guessed it might be because of all the fancy gadgets he had in order to impress whoever visited. Programmable lights that could glow any hue, speakers mounted to the ceiling, in-home security cameras, a smart thermostat, and even motion sensor lighting, all of which could be controlled by a smart speaker. He even had a smart vacuum, which Ingrid thought was a complete waste of money. But Sylvain was not exactly the thrifty type.

The gadgets did impress the guests, though. Especially the lights. As people filtered in, both familiar and unfamiliar faces, she watched as they admired the color-changing lights that could sync up with the music.

It was about half an hour into the party when Sylvain tapped her on the shoulder.

“Look who’s here!” he whispered, gesturing across the room.

Ingrid turned to see Byleth had indeed showed up to the party, with Yuri right beside him. “Well, I must admit I’m a bit surprised,” Ingrid whispered back.

They approached, and Sylvain greeted them.

“Glad to see you _finally_ decided to come to my party,” Sylvain said teasingly.

Byleth smiled slightly, glancing briefly at Yuri. “I was convinced.”

“After you talked it up so much, I figured we at least needed to check it out,” Yuri added. Then he glanced around at the lights, speakers and other bits of technology around the house. “Got quite a setup.”

“Yeah, you could say I’m a fan of technology,” Sylvain boasted.

Ingrid saw Yuri smile the same way he had when Sylvain had attempted to flirt with him.

“I see,” Yuri replied. “Well, thanks again for the invite. I’m gonna try and get him to socialize for once.”

Byleth smiled, took his hand, and then they walked off.

Ingrid noticed Sylvain’s eyes grow distant. “Still jealous?”

“I just want what they have, you know?”

She sighed. “Well, just be genuine for once. Not everyone likes the whole flirty thing. It comes across as insincere. You invite all these people, but I doubt any of them actually know you.”

He looked at her as though she had said something profound. “I… well… I guess you’re right.”

* * *

Hilda had been a little skeptical at first, but she ultimately decided the party was great. Dorothea hadn’t been joking when she said he was a rich guy. Not only did he have a nice house with fancy improvements, but the food and drinks he provided to his guests _for free_ were incredible. Hilda couldn’t remember the last time she ate such nice food.

After mingling a while, she noticed Linhardt was nowhere to be seen. He’d entered with her, but had since gone missing. She only hoped he wasn’t moping around or getting overly drunk.

Eventually she found him hiding out in what appeared to be some kind of study. Bookshelves lined one wall, while another had a plush couch. Linhardt sat on it, absently glancing at a book.

She moved to sit beside him. “Hey Lin. You doing all right?”

He shrugged, closing the book. “I guess. The food is nice, at least. He’s got some interesting books too.”

Hilda frowned. “Still troubled?”

He nodded. “Don’t worry about me. You’re here to have fun.”

“Well, even I could use a break. It’s kinda warm in that other room, anyway. I don’t want to get sweaty.”

Linhardt chuckled, then opened the book once more.

After a few minutes, another person entered the study, and Hilda almost couldn’t believe who it was.

“It’s _you_!” she exclaimed.

Linhardt looked up as well. “Oh yeah, I remember you. Yuri, right?”

He smiled. “Hey, glad you remember me. Didn’t expect to see you here.”

“Are you friends with that Sylvain guy?” Hilda asked.

Yuri sat down in a plush chair across from the couch, pulling out a small laptop. “Nah, Byleth works with him sometimes. So we both got invited.”

Hilda glanced at the laptop. “Are you hacking people’s group chats again?”

He laughed. “Not this time. Just adjusting the thermostat.”

Hilda blinked at him. “You can hack _thermostats_? I mean, it _is_ pretty warm in here.”

“Well, fortunately for us, this Sylvain guy has all these smart-home gadgets on an unsecured network. So yeah, I can change the thermostat. Honestly, this place is a mess. He’s already got people leeching off his Wi-Fi.”

Hilda turned to Linhardt to see his reaction, but she found him staring down at his feet absently, his melancholy returned.

“Hey, Lin. You doing all right?” she asked.

He sighed. “Still thinking about it.”

Yuri tilted his head. “Something happen?”

“Just lamenting my personal flaws.”

“Oh come on Lin, it’s not that bad,” Hilda said.

“How could I not realize until now?” He sighed with frustration. “I’m twenty-two years old and I don’t even understand my own sexuality. How pathetic is that?”

Yuri looked at him, his expression serious. “I don’t think that’s pathetic. Sometimes it takes a while for us to understand ourselves. There’s no age limit to that.”

“Yeah, he’s right, Lin,” Hilda added.

“In some ways I’m afraid to understand myself. It will only be a confirmation that I’m broken,” Linhardt said. “Like I don’t belong in this world. Unable to feel love.”

“Hey now, that’s a bit extreme,” Yuri said. “Surely that’s not true.”

He shook his head. “Someone like you wouldn’t understand. You probably don’t even know asexual means. I didn’t even know until a week ago.”

Yuri’s face lit up. “Wait, is that what this is about?”

“Lin, I told you, there’s nothing wrong with you,” Hilda said.

Yuri closed the laptop, then looked at Linhardt with his full attention. “She’s right. There’s nothing wrong with you.”

Linhardt looked at him skeptically. “How would _you_ know?”

“I speak from experience,” he replied.

Linhardt looked at him with disbelief. “Wait, you’re…”

“Yep.”

“And your boyfriend doesn’t mind?”

“He’s ace too.”

Hilda watched as Linhardt froze in shock, stifling a laugh. “See, Lin, I _told_ you it was normal.”

“I have so many questions,” Linhardt finally said. “I honestly don’t know how to approach relationships now.”

Yuri laughed. “Well, we can have a chat sometime if that will help. We’re friends after all, right?”

Before Linhardt could respond, Byleth appeared in the doorway.

“Yuri! Look!” Byleth held out a small plate in front of him. “They have cheesecake! I saved some for you.”

Yuri’s face lit up as he took the plate, keeping his sole attention on the dessert in front of him. “Wow, this party keeps on giving. Thanks, By. It’s even got berries!”

It was then Byleth noticed the others in the room with embarrassment, becoming suddenly very shy. “Oh… um, hi. I didn’t think I’d see you two here.”

“Yeah, all our new friends are here,” Yuri said, already halfway through the slice of cheesecake. “See? Sometimes it’s good to socialize.”

He glanced away nervously. “Y-Yeah, I guess so.” Then his eyes widened. “Oh, I also came here to tell you that Sylvain isn’t distracted anymore.”

Yuri opened the laptop once more and nodded. “Got it. I’m almost done.”

“I kinda want some cheesecake now,” Linhardt commented.

Hilda laughed, standing from the couch. “Come on, Lin. Let’s get back out there.” Then she turned to Yuri and Byleth. “Nice chatting with you two again. We should hang out sometime.”

Linhardt nodded. “Yes. Thank you for… helping me.”

Yuri smiled. “Sure thing. Stay in touch, yeah?”

With that, Hilda left the room with a much less melancholic Linhardt.

* * *

Ingrid almost couldn’t believe what she was witnessing. Sylvain had resorted to flirting again, and it had actually worked.

She had never seen the young woman before, but she seemed just as skilled at the art of flirting as he was. And, to Ingrid’s surprise, she exchanged numbers with him. She almost felt sorry for her.

Soon after, the guests started to leave, and Sylvain walked over to her smugly.

“Proud of yourself?” Ingrid asked.

“Not even jealous anymore. We even scheduled a _date_ ,” he replied.

“If you’re lucky, you won’t get stood up,” Ingrid teased.

It was then she noticed Yuri approaching, stopping in front of Sylvain. “Hey, sent you the new password.”

Sylvain looked at him with confusion, then checked his phone. “Password for what?”

“The Wi-Fi. You seriously need to learn how to make a secure password. Using your best friend’s name is just stupid.”

Sylvain only stared at him, stunned.

Ingrid laughed. “That’s totally something you would do, Sylvain.”

“Also,” Yuri continued. “If you’re gonna use all these fancy gadgets, at least get good ones. I mean, if you care about privacy. I disabled the cameras, since they were basically just spying on you. Same with the smart speaker. I know you went for the cheap brand, but it just means it spies on you even more.”

“I… um… t-thanks,” Sylvain finally said, clearly flustered. 

“Oh, and thanks for the food. It was incredible.” With that, he turned to leave. “See you around.”

With that, he left alongside Byleth, followed by several other guests.

Sylvain stood still, absently watching everyone leave. Then he sighed. “Goddess I wish he was single.”

Ingrid laughed. “I doubt he’d go for someone like you even if he was.” Ingrid tilted her head. “Wait, are you saying you actually like him? I know you don’t actually like most of the people you flirt with. You’re the only person I know who’d dates someone for months without actually liking them.”

He shrugged. “Sometimes I just need the attention. Might end up liking them later.”

“Sylvain, you realize this is one of many reasons why you fail to have a long term relationship, right?”

“I guess.” 

Seeing the sadness in his expression, Ingrid placed a hand on his shoulder. “Just be genuine, Sylvain. You deserve better.”

He glanced down. “Thanks, Ingrid.”

“By the way, was it Felix?” Ingrid asked.

“What?”

“The password.”

“Oh. Yeah.”

“I heard he was thinking about transferring to Adrestia U.”

His eyes instantly lit up. “Wait, really?!”

“Yeah. Good thing you changed your Wi-Fi password.”

He smiled, and it was genuine.


End file.
